Thursday, 13 February 2014

Violin Repair 11/2013

This is a Suzuki (Japanese) violin that
belonged to my friend's grandfather. It came in the condition that
any old instrument will have come in – in need of repair!

Overall, the instrument had suffered no
real structural damage. However, its seams were very loose in many
places as the glue had dried out and cracked over the years. In
addition, the previous owner had attempted his own repairs by gluing
some of the then-loose seams shut with gum! The violin had lost its
bridge and had to have its fittings and strings changed/reworked.

All seams that were not held together
with gum were broken and glued shut. One point to note is that gum
used was effective to the point where it was impossible to remove
from the instrument! Not the proper way to repair an instrument (you
can't open the instrument after that without damaging it) but
functional nonetheless.

A new bridge was carved; this is the
first time I have ever done this or any other fine wood carving so I
selected a $16 Aubert Mirecourt bridge (second lowest grade, from
France) The bridge comes with its rough shape and detail already in.
A violin maker will then thin the bridge to specifications, fit the
bridge feet to the curved body of the instrument and further carve
out the details on the bridge. This is all very skilled work as the
maple bridge will crack/break if too much force is applied at the
wrong points.

All in all, luck was with me most of
the way. The bridge I made was overly thin in some places due to my
overzealous and impatient sanding (which will lead to it warping with
time and affect the tone of the instrument). However, I was able to
do everything else without damaging the bridge or cutting myself (I
used a very sharp carving knife). The only other complaint about the
bridge was that the angle between the A and E string was too shallow,
making it easy to accidentally hit one when playing the other.

Other than that, the tuning pegs were
trimmed as the ends were sticking out. One peg turned out
particularly loose. A new soundpost was carved and fitted in. A new
tailpiece, chinrest and strings were then installed and the instrument was
given a wipe down.

The tonal quality of the restored
instrument was bright. It carried a modicum of projecting power but
sounded somewhat thin, possibly due to the thin bridge. I believe
that adjustments to the soundpost (which was a hair too long on
hindsight) and bridge position would produce a perceivable
improvement to the sound of the instrument in both tone and
projecting power.